Life on Mesman Farm
“They just mosey around in their own little world, in their own time frame”
If there was an award for the cutest farm in Skagit County, it would likely go to the Mesmans. Situated on the outskirts of the town of La Conner and its quaint tourist vibe, the iconic Victorian pink-and-cream farmhouse is known as the “Peppermint House.” The colors were modeled after Ben Mesman’s grandmother’s table doily.
There are baby farm animals around every corner. One small white building looks almost like playhouse, and houses two young pigs. Three baby lambs chase their mom in a small stall, adorned with white twinkly lights, and in the barn, the farm cat (named “Cat”) stops to give kisses to a young steer. It’s a quintessential small family farm.
All of this is controlled from our phones
But behind all of the original farmstead, and inside one of the old outbuildings is some of Skagit County’s most high-tech milking equipment. Mesman Farm is the first dairy in Skagit County to use robotics to milk their cows. The upgrade has completely changed the dynamic of the farm, because cows now choose to be milked on their own schedule, rather than being shuffled around by the farmers to be milked according to a fixed routine. It is a serene scene.
“The cows are way more relaxed,” said Alan Mesman, 58. “They just mosey around in their own little world, in their own time frame.”
Each cow has a microchip, which tracks everything the cow does - how much and when it eats and milks, and when it can go in and out of certain gates to pasture. Those are loose parameters, and, for the most part, the cows eat and milk when they want to, about three times a day.
“All of this is controlled from our phones,” Mesman said.
To milk, the cows walk into a stall, the robot reads which cow it is, and adjusts its milking apparatus specifically to fit that particular cow. It washes the udders and then milks with a robotic arm, which also tubes the milk into storage. No humans are involved in the process, which seems to be a plus from the cows’ perspective.
“No one is bugging them,” Mesman said.
The robotics have taken a lot of stress out of being a dairy farmer, because labor can be unreliable and milking cows can’t be put off. As he approaches his 60s, Mesman is looking at how to keep his farm alive long term. The robotics came at a steep cost: $250,000 for each of the two milking robots needed for the farm’s 100 milking cows, but he said it’s been worth the serenity it’s created – both for him and the cows.
His son, Ben Mesman, 29, is also now working full time at the farm, and is taking on ownership over time. Because organic milk hasn’t been as profitable for dairy farmers in the past several years (the Mesmans sell to Organic Valley), the family is now trying to diversify their offerings to keep the farm in operation.
It is truly a family affair. Ben and his wife Chelsy created a farm store in the back of the “Peppermint Home” to sell beef and lamb. Chelsy comes from a Wisconsin dairy farming family, and the two met in their teens at a 4H Convention there.
Alan’s wife, Anita Mesman, is in charge of breeding and expanding the sheep herd.
The family has been surprised by the popularity of their store. They were just getting set up when “the apocalypse happened,” Ben Mesman joked.
With Covid creating meat shortages in 2020, Skagit Valley residents looked to local meat sources, and the Mesmans suddenly had a huge line of people wanting their product.
Also, more people are concerned now about where their meat is coming from. Younger foodies are interested in the “know your farmer” movement, Chelsy Mesman said. She’s also seen a lot of older customers become regulars because, they say, the Mesmans’ meat tastes like it used to when they were growing up: pasture raised, and aged two weeks by the butcher.
“The flavors are just so much more profound”
The farm has caught the eye of regional restauranteurs. For example, the Mesmans’ meat is a regular feature at the popular high-end Ballard Italian restaurant, San Fermo.
The restaurant’s father-and-son owners, Tim Baker and Sam West, appreciate the flavor and quality of the Mesmans’ beef, especially the short ribs, which they make into ragu, pasta sauce, or braise to serve with risotto, polenta or pureed celeriac.
Commodity beef from the Midwest is often “bloated with hormones” for profit, and lacks texture from being confined to a feedlot, Tim Baker said. The Mesmans’ humanely raised meat has the texture and flavor necessary to create a perfect braise, said Baker.
“The flavors are just so much more profound,” he said. “You don’t taste the hormones, antibiotics or grain finishing. It’s an entirely different meat that what comes out of the Midwest.”
Baker, who has spent his career running and consulting for Seattle restaurants, said traditional restaurants focus on the chef’s menu, then source the ingredients.
San Fermo takes the opposite approach, looking at what farms are producing and sorting out how to make something delicious out of what is locally available.
“That’s what farm-to-table really is,” he said. “Figuring out how to use the things that the farms produce, and not the other way around. We’re really excited about that approach, and people love it. They really, really love it. We’re feeling like there are just limitless connections to farms up here.”
In fact, Baker loves the area’s family farm culture so much, he moved here last year and plans to start his own small farm to help supply his restaurant.
In the meantime, the Mesmans are quickly trying to ramp up their meat production, especially the lamb. When they butchered their first round last fall, “it sold out immediately,” Alan Mesman said. They are experimenting with pigs, and hoping to bring pork into their store soon too.
In a 2002 essay on food ethics, author Michael Pollan wrote that “[f]or any animal, happiness seems to consist in the opportunity to express its creaturely character–its essential pigness or wolfness or chickenness.” The Mesman Farm – where animals “mosey around in their own little world, in their own time frame” – seems like just such a place.
Story and photos by Tahlia Honea: info@skagitonians.org